Anti-Tax 'Tea Parties' Protest President Obama's Tax and Spending Policies

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Een eerste poging tot een antwoord op Obama's internet netwerk.

Ben benieuwd of de Republikeinen genoeg mensen op de been krijgen om een
deuk in een pakje boter te slaan ;)

Groet / Cees

Protests Against President Obama's Tax a Test of Conservative Online
Organizing
By RICK KLEIN and KATE BARRETT

April 15, 2009

In Boston, they'll be cramming the Common. In Dayton, 7,000 RSVPs leave
organizers bracing for a record crowd outside the courthouse. In Atlanta,
they're expecting a crowd of more than 10,000 near the statehouse.

In President Obama's hometown of Chicago, organizers expect at least
several thousand people outside the Federal Building.

Or maybe it will be a bust.

The nationwide "tea parties" scheduled for today -- massive anti-tax and
anti-spending demonstrations timed for tax day -- are developing into a
nationwide test of online organizing among fiscal conservatives.

More than 750 events across all 50 states are planned, with organizers in
several larger cities predicting attendance in the tens of thousands to
protest high taxes and rising government spending.

Tax Day Protests Mark of Conservative Activism

The events have come together in less than two months' time, after a CNBC
personality suggested that angry citizens protest the Obama
administration's approach to the economic crisis by channeling the spirit
of protest that sparked the Boston Tea Party.

If crowds approach their predicted levels, it will be an impressive
display of grassroots activism -- on a scale rarely, if ever, demonstrated
by conservatives.

Although there's been little advertising and no real top-down direction
from party leaders, they've made extensive use of social networking sites
like Facebook and Twitter to bring activists together.

"This could be the beginning of conservative online grassroots politics,"
said David All, a Republican Internet strategist. "It has real potential.
The interesting thing will be to see how it pivots, and whether it pivots.
The real question is what happens after April 15."

The explosion of interest has left some conservative strategists wondering
whether the Republican Party might have stumbled across the makings of its
own version of the liberal MoveOn.org -- a powerful organization with the
ability to shape national politics.

What's Next for Activists After Tax Day?

But even if the numbers match elevated expectations, questions are
swirling around what's next for the activists.

The movement is leaderless and only aligns indirectly with party politics.
While many participants will be Republicans, the anti-spending message is
more closely aligned with libertarian themes of small government, with
many people angry at both Democrats and Republicans.

"These are folks who have never been involved in the political process
before," said Eric Odom, who designed and is running two Web sites to
connect supporters and corral information about the protests. Odom said he
supported Libertarian Bob Barr for president last year.

"This is a birth of a completely new movement, with a new face, that
hasn't been seen anywhere in the country," Odom said.

The question of what to do with the organizing energy will hover over the
day's events.

"It's a good and complicated question. When you have a citizen movement,
who moves the citizens?" said Roger L. Simon, who has helped spread word
of the protests through his Web site Pajamas Media.

Regardless of what happens Wednesday, the tea parties have made a mark.
Fox News Channel has joined conservative bloggers and radio hosts in
promoting the events for weeks; Fox is planning several hours of live
coverage at different sites around the country today.

At the White House Tuesday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he wasn't
sure if Obama was aware of the tea parties but said the president would be
using the April 15 tax filing deadline to make a point of his own.

"I think the president will use tomorrow as a day to have an event here at
the White House to signal the important steps in the economic recovery and
reinvestment plan that cut taxes for 95 percent of working families in
America, just as the president proposed doing, cuts in taxes and tax
credits for the creation of clean energy jobs," Gibbs said.

GOP Not Sure What to Make of Tea Party Rallies

It all began with a televised rant by CNBC's Rick Santelli Feb. 19. From
the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Santelli drew cheers from
traders as he attacked the president's plan to prop up mortgages and
suggested that he and others dump "derivative securities" into Lake
Michigan in a "Chicago Tea Party."

The concept quickly spread among grassroots activists, helped along by
conservative bloggers and others who connected via social networking
sites. As the idea took hold, organizers turned down offers of
organizational support from the Republican National Committee.

"Believe me -- this is not Republican-inspired. This is just people," said
Pat Longo, a Republican national committeewoman from Connecticut. She said
she's urging people to attend events in her state but had nothing to do
with pulling them together.

In Dayton, Ohio, for instance, the speakers will include a retired
clinical psychologist, the wife of an Air Force officer, the 74-year old
owner of a tobacco business and other local small business owners -- not a
slate of elected officials.

"I did not want to make it, 'Let's get a congressman up there, let's get a
senator up there,'" said Rob Scott said, a University of Dayton law
student who is helping organize the event. "People are tired of that."

Republicans Supportive

Still, national Republicans are embracing the concept: House Minority
Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, is attending a "tea party" event in
California, and numerous Republican members of Congress are doing the same
in their districts.

Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman, on Tuesday
sent an e-mail to supporters inviting them so submit "virtual tea bags" to
Democratic leaders in Congress.

But even as the message is heard in Washington, many inside the GOP aren't
quite sure what to make of the protests. While participants are expecting
to be largely supportive of Republican causes, the events are being fueled
by an anti-incumbent sentiment that may not respect party lines.

"Participation here across the country has much more to do with this very
vocal sector of the electorate that is really, really fed up with the
status quo in Washington," Kevin Madden, a Republican consultant, said on
ABCNews.com's "Top Line" Tuesday.

"It's almost libertarian more than it is Republican or Democrat," Madden
said. "These are instead very grassroots-driven, against Washington and
against both parties."

Speaking Tuesday at the National Press Club, Grover Norquist, the
president of Americans for Tax Reform, sought to distinguish the tea
parties from tax revolts of the past.

"In the past, taxpayer activism has come because taxes were raised last
week," said Norquist. "The rallies that have been going on for the last
month or so & are not in reaction to a particular tax increase. They're in
reaction to a government explosion of spending which people recognize will
lead to higher taxes and probably inflation down the road."

Norquist is scheduled to speak at a tea party in the Washington, D.C.,
area, but he was not one of the organizers.

Another Anti-Spending Event Scheduled for July 4

Some in the Republican party are hesitant to read too much into the
events. This is just one attempt at a new kind of organizing by
conservatives, but by no means will it be the last, said GOP consultant
Phil Musser.

"I'm not sure if this is the full-blown test of the strength of the
'Netroots' of the right. But it's an important demonstration: Republicans
have begun to recognize and use the social networking sites used by the
Obama campaign," Musser said. "It will be fun to watch."

Already, organizers are making plans for what's next. Talk has begun of
candidate recruitment for state and local races. Activists are planning
for fights over state budgets from California to Connecticut. Another
nationwide event -- scheduled for July 4 -- is already in the works.

Odom said he hopes and trusts activists will stay in touch to figure out
among themselves how to harness the organizing tools they're honing.

"We're pretty confident that, post-April 15, there will be a plethora of
new networks and organizations that develop organically," he said.

For a day, at least, it promises to produce quite a scene.

"We just want to show that the silent majority has a face," said Corie
Whalen, a senior at Simmons College, who is helping to organize the event
in Boston.

"We definitely have people that are going to come dressed in historical
costume," Whalen added. "People are definitely bringing tea."

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Ferdous Al-Faruque contributed to this report.

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